Bethlehem assesses rat infestation

Rodents are plaguing at least two houses in one block. Health officials on the hunt.

Judith Koch, of Bethlehem, talks about the rat problem at her house on Thursday.… (MICHAEL KUBEL, THE MORNING…)

April 22, 2013|By Nicole Radzievich", Of The Morning Call

Sometimes, when it's quiet at night, Judith Koch can hear them in the walls and underneath her floorboards.

She's tried traps, bait and a baseball bat to get rid of them. But they keep coming back. Even her dogs don't scare them away from her neatly kept half-double home a few blocks outside Bethlehem's historic district.

One of the invaders once stole the dog toys to cushion its nest underneath a radiator. She's killed nine of them in the last year. She woke Friday morning to an oven wire that had been chewed.

Koch is an animal lover, except when it comes to rats inside her home.

"I have to kill them with a baseball bat. I love animals. I can't deal with this," said Koch, a 41-year-old geometry teacher, her voice cracking. "This October, I found one in the recycling bin and actually killed it without any regrets. I don't like what this is doing to me."

Koch and a neighbor pleaded with city officials last week to do something about the rat problems that have plagued at least two homes in the 100 block of E. Garrison Street.

Koch said her exterminator comes monthly, but the rats return.

Joseph Kelly, the city's director of community and economic development, said it "appears to be an infestation."

City officials aren't sure which building started it, but neighbors have been suspicious of a home that's been vacant for years since the elderly owner went to a nursing home.

Kelly said the city made some phone calls last week and will be getting access to the vacant home. Health officials plan to assess four homes on the block Monday. He said exterminators don't know whether rats are in the vacant home, but it makes sense to treat all the homes because the rats will just retreat to the one that's vacant.

Koch's neighbor Emily Frye also has rats. Frye doesn't let her 1-year-old son sleep in his crib for fear of the rats and she said her pediatrician suggested moving if the problem isn't gotten under control.

Jessica Lucas, director of environment health, said if confirmed it would be the first rat infestation in multiple homes that she's seen in her 13 years with Bethlehem.

Any urban area, she said, has to be conscious of rats that survive on garbage and squeeze into homes for shelter, especially when it gets cold.

Rat statistics are hard to come by, though city officials receive reports about sightings and monitor areas where they might breed.

Last year, the city fielded 141 complaints about vectors — disease-carrying pests from rats to mosquitoes — and issued 54 violations.

The National Pest Management Association estimates that rodents find their way into 21 million homes every winter.

Rats, which average around 6-8 inches long, can squeeze through holes the size of a quarter, chew through siding, burrow under foundation and scurry through pipes. They can jump, dig, climb and swim. And they're observant little critters.

"It's amazing to see a rodent. Unless it's being chased, they'll spend time looking around, trying to find an air current to get into a structure," said Ed Van Istendal, president-elect of the Pennsylvania Pest Management Association.

Once the rats get in, they can breed quickly and create a dangerous situation. They can carry disease and do a lot of damage.

They eat through insulation and electrical wiring. The National Pest Management Association estimates that rodents contribute to 25 percent of house fires.

"The best weapon is prevention," Van Istendal said.

Seal up holes with wiry mesh that rats can't bite through. Keep firewood and clutter away from the house. Put garbage in sealed containers. Remove water sources. Keep food in the house sealed.

But once there's an infestation, it's time for the baits and traps. Van Istendal said his preferred bait is anticoagulant rodenticides, similar to the blood thinners heart patients take but stronger. Van Istendal said he prefers those types of poisons because there are antidotes — like Vitamin K and blood transfusions — if a dog accidentally eats the poison. Dogs that mistakenly scarf up other poisons are goners, he said.

Van Istendal said the rats can be controlled but it can be more difficult in older urban homes, especially attached homes that have no firewall.

Koch has tried glue traps and snap traps, and has sealed her home. She puts the dog food up high at night and doesn't keep any of her food unsealed. Recently, she got some tougher wire mesh for the house.

"This house has been in my family since my mother was 7. I don't want to move," she said. "But I don't know how much longer I can stand it."